


Character Study: Bodhi Rook

by Asgardsrevengers



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars
Genre: Canon Divergent, Character Study, Gen, canon ending, this is not a happy story so if ur expecting one this isn’t the fic for u
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-18
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24791896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asgardsrevengers/pseuds/Asgardsrevengers
Summary: A look into the life of Bodhi Rook, the Imperial pilot who defected and helped save the Rebellion.
Relationships: Bodhi Rook/Galen Erso
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Character Study: Bodhi Rook

Bodhi Rook was a troubled young individual. His life had not proven easy from the beginning, and it would only get bleaker as he grew up. 

His homeworld was Jedha, now ransacked with criminal activity and lawlessness. He lived with his mother in a small cottage, never having known his father or even where he came from. When he was a child, he fantasized that his father went off to war before he was born and died heroically protecting the galaxy. His mother eluded his questions frequently and never gave a straight answer, which led Bodhi to tear down his fantasies and picture his father as just another cowardly criminal. 

Eventually, he had some run-ins with the local authorities himself. When he was fourteen he began wagering on sports events such as illegal pod racing. The authorities busted him, took his winnings, and threw him to the street like he was filth. The next and last crime was, according to the authorities, “unsafe operation of an airspeeder.” Given, the airspeeder wasn’t his own, but his uncle’s, who had previously given him permission to use the speeder. And although he was going above the posted limit for the area, no one was around to be hurt, but he was still stuck with a ridiculous fine. 

They were both minor offenses, nothing compared to other crimes befalling Jedha, yet the authorities deemed him a menace and held a grievance against him for the rest of his time on Jedha. They looked for ways to get him in trouble, sometimes spotting him at the market or on the street, stopping and forcing him to undergo a “random” search. It was both humiliating and unnecessary, but Bodhi would say nothing to warrant violence or arrest. In his earlier youth he would fight back and argue, but he knew much better than that now. His mother was gravely ill and if he got into trouble there would be no one to care for her. So he kept silent, and he kept out of prison. Bodhi was never the type to withstand such blatant abuse, but living in a place like Jedha wore one down to nearly nothing. 

By the time he had a chance to escape the planet that had caused him so much pain, he had nothing but himself in the universe. His mother had passed just weeks after he turned sixteen, and when he could no longer afford to stay in their home, he was evicted. He had nowhere to turn except one place. He reluctantly enlisted in the Galactic Empire with hopes to become a Starfighter pilot. 

Bodhi spent two years in flight training before he was administered a test to become a Starfighter pilot, which he failed. Devastated, but still with nowhere else to go, Bodhi spent some time as an Ensign, or junior officer. From there, he was assigned to work on cargo shuttles that he was told transported important Imperial materials, though what those were, he never asked. A part of him didn’t want to know. Ignorance was better than having knowledge of the crooked Empire and not being able to do a damn thing about it. 

After a few years of steady work on the cargo ships, Bodhi was selected by Galen Erso—an Imperial Scientist—to help on a project. Erso says he selected Bodhi for this project based on his many mechanical and practical skills, which, to be fair, Bodhi did possess several of. They worked closely for months, though Bodhi was kept in the dark about the nature of the project until Galen revealed it to him one day. The scientist was constructing some kind of mechanism that wasn’t in the blueprints that Bodhi had been given access to. He asked Galen out of curiosity, and Galen suddenly went quiet, got close to Bodhi, and revealed everything. The plans were meant for the biggest space station the galaxy had ever seen, and the most destructive. Galen claimed the station would have the power to destroy an entire planet, a fact that would later be proved devastatingly true for Bodhi. 

The young man was now understandably distraught, but Galen quickly told him more to ease his worries. 

“I’m putting a bug in the  _ Death Star.”  _ he said to Bodhi in a hushed voice. “Something they will never find, and if they do, it will be too late.”

When Bodhi asked why Galen was doing this, the man’s reply was simple, yet confusing to Bodhi at the time. 

“For my Stardust.”

The famed “Stardust” Galen would later tell Bodhi was his daughter whom he was forced to leave behind when the Empire came looking for him. Bodhi felt for his friend, knowing the pain of losing the one important thing in one’s life. 

In the months following, the pair grew close, easily exchanging anecdotes, banter, and stories of their lives leading up to the present. Bodhi had never told another person of his struggles, and he found it quite relieving when he finally did. Galen was a man of few words, as was Bodhi, but he listened, he empathized, and he didn’t try to lessen Bodhi’s pain, only share in it with his own stories. Bodhi learned that Galen had a wife who was murdered by the Empire, and the whereabouts of his daughter were unknown to him. It was a heart wrenching story, but the exchange of such personal history between the two formed an impenetrable bond. Galen was the only person on the base, hell, the whole galaxy, that Bodhi trusted. He would never admit it to anyone, but he let himself get lost in it for a bit before reality hit. 

It was easy to tell Galen everything, to let himself be vulnerable, to let himself believe this went deeper than friendship or camaraderie. He knew it was crazy to even entertain the notion, but at times he caught himself drifting into thought, imagining what it would be like if they could escape, perhaps together. Those sorts of thoughts were dangerous, even traitorous, though Bodhi couldn’t help them. He deeply admired and respected Galen, and he wasn’t sure if that’s where it stopped. He’d had crushes before. Once on Bayamar, though he was rejected. There had been a few past casual encounters with some of his fellow pilots, but none of them meant anything else besides a need to get off. They were forgotten the next morning and caused no awkwardness or tension between him and his comrades. Bodhi had even, on occasion, taken some of his credits at the end of the week and spent them at the local brothel. 

So, he was in no way inexperienced, but these feelings bubbling up inside of him towards Galen were feelings he’d never felt, and therefore he could not put a name to, nor was he brave enough to attempt to. Things were better left as they were. 

The more he worked with Galen, the more Galen revealed to him. The scientist had everything planned out, and it turned out that Bodhi played an integral role in this plan of his. Bodhi of course agreed to everything, if a little reluctantly. Galen assured him this would save millions of innocents and bring peace to the galaxy. Bodhi was well aware this was treason against the Empire, and both would be slaughtered if they were ever found out, but it seems he didn’t much care. Galen was entrusting him with information concerning the plans to destroy the  _ Death Star,  _ and if it could put an end to this war he would gladly give his life for such a cause. 

When the day finally came, Bodhi was admittedly not ready. The  _ Death Star  _ was ready and operational, time was running out. He paced back and forth in his small living quarters, stopping only when a knock interrupted him. Without answering, the door opened and Galen quickly slipped inside. 

“We don’t have long,” he told Bodhi in a whisper. “Your ship is being loaded now. I wanted to say goodbye in private before.”

Bodhi stood there, blinking away the dampness in his eyes. There were so many things he couldn’t find the strength to say. Galen had wrapped him in a gentle embrace, cradling Bodhi’s face in his hands and looking into his eyes as he spoke. 

“Don’t shed any tears for me. I did my part, now it’s up to you. The galaxy is counting on you, Bodhi.” 

As if that made what he was about to do any easier. 

“They’ll kill you if I’m discovered.” The words cling to the air like static. Galen lets out a soft breath as he runs his thumb over the stubble of Bodhi’s beard. 

“I’m ready.”

The first tear falls. “How can you say that?”

“I know the galaxy is in good hands, and I’ve made peace with my life. Whether I live or die will not change the outcome, that’s up to you.”

Bodhi swallows and closes his eyes as he leans forward just the slightest, pressing his forehead to Galen’s. 

“I won’t fail you, Galen.”

Inside his pocket, his communicator buzzed, alerting him it was time to go. 

At the docking bay, his ship was ready and waiting. To the rest of the base it was just a regular cargo load, like any other day, but to Bodhi, it was the beginning of something great and tragic. He turned once more, locking eyes with Galen who stood on the other side of the bay. They exchanged a nod and a meaningful look before Bodhi was forced to board his ship. 


End file.
